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science degrees threatened
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4970160.stm
quite scary really
for this country to keep doing economically well we need to move into the high tech manufacturing and research fields whilst instead we'rereverting back to stupidness
quite scary really
for this country to keep doing economically well we need to move into the high tech manufacturing and research fields whilst instead we'rereverting back to stupidness
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If people don't want to do chemistry then how are you going to make them?
Incidentally how are the job prospects for chemists? If they are good maybe this should be trumpeted a bit more........
Remind me again why this is a good idea?
youd be suprised, most chemists either go into the industry or research, or finance (cause of good analytical skills)
i spoke to a RAF careers person, and they'd take me for air traffic control without question as long as i passed physical
and applications are up compared to before
they're being shut down because depts spend more on teaching the course than they get from the HEFCE. whilst other subjects are cheap to teach, the full cost of teaching i believe is approx £11,000 per student per year whilst they only get about £7-8000 from uk students and government combined per student per year - they subsidise it through research grants and internetional students who pay £13,750 PER year - http://www.ucl.ac.uk/current-students/tuition-fees/ug-fees/
theres more competition for chemistry undergrad places than there was when i applied, i got half my places then without interview, and thats from nottingham, manchester and ucl, and i got interviews at imperial and bristol and got them too
personally i dont want to go into the industry itself or banking, so im applying to be technician at schools and colleges, and considering the amount of places advertised there must be a recruitment problem, teaching is another option
in terms of interest, well like anything it's all about arousing interest from a young age, and well frankly this countries education system does wonders for that by rota learning for exams from the age of 7 meaning you cant keep kids curious about the world around them cause your too bust trying to reach targets - its why im considering teaching
the big companies do fund departments, but mainly the post grad stuff which directly affects them more, my dept developed prototype windows that insulate in winter and let heat out in summer for example, as well as self cleaning glass where rain and sunlight remove dust and soot
of course you dont do what doesnt interest you to a really high level
im not going into finance even if i could do it well simply because i wouldnt be happy in it, id be happy earning enough to survive and doing something productive, whilst some people i know see finance as productive as they honestly believe they're helping people in the long run by circulating money and generating profit
If the demand and the rewards are there as you claim then this shouldn't be a problem. Let the market sort it out.......
youd only get people doing it to go into finance then i wouldnt spend £42k (in fees alone, let alone living costs) just to do a job i enjoy, id do it to do into a high paying job - in the jobs im applying for id finish off paying that back by the time im 40 or something.....
the market cannot solve problems like this alone, if this government doesnt want this country to lose its economic power it will have to invest, lets not forget it wil make it back up over the long run
having some variable costs to the student are fine, but not the full fees, id be happy for it to be a 50:50 split between student and government in funding higher education since they both benefit from it
industry fund the actual end research, and the government should supply the money to